The country’s population decreased for the third consecutive year in 2022, with the number of single-person households approaching ten million. 

According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety on Sunday, the country's registered population stood at 51-million-439-thousand-38 as of December 31 of last year, down nearly 200-thousand from a year earlier.

By gender, the male population declined for the fourth consecutive year, while the female population decreased for two straight years in a row after shrinking for the first time in 2021.  

Single-person households came to nine-point-72 million, accounting for 41 percent of the total households. One- or two-person households combined took up 65-point-two percent of the total in 2022, up one percentage point on-year. 

Households with three or more people accounted for 34-point-seven percent at the end of last year, down from 35-point-seven percent in 2021.